If Donny was irritated by my father’s informal use of ‘son’ he didn’t show it. “I’m listening.”
Mamand I were silent as my father went through everything that happened, carefully presenting information in a way that showed the duplicitousness of the Rossis, just like we’d planned at Sapphic Security.
I watched Donny carefully, and while his expression stayed carefully blank, I’d spent enough time with him to see that he was getting angry. His eyes were turning harder, narrowing into slits, and his fingers curled into fists several times. If there was one thing that men like Donny hated, it was being played a fool.
“You have proof of all this?” he asked whenDafinally stopped.
“Of course.”
He handed Donny a large envelope full of emails, text message transcripts, shipping manifests, receipts, and photos. He’d brought some of the documents with him, but Wanda had helped him fill in the blanks, using her hacker skills to gather additional evidence.
The room was deadly silent as Donny looked through everything, and when he turned back to my father, his expression softened for the first time since we got here.
“I should have known you wouldn’t fuck me over, old friend.” Donny’s smile reminded me of a shark.
“Of course not,”Dasaid smoothly. “As a show of good faith, we’ve brought you Moira. It took a while, but we finally found her.”
“Where have you been, Moira?” Donny’s attention was fully on me.
“I live in Canada now, but when I came to Seattle for work, it seemed like a good time to catch up with my parents,” I said demurely. “But I… when I heard you were here, I wanted to come. I wanted to see you.”
“Why is that?”
Willing myself to look earnest, I turned in my seat to face him directly.
“I owe you an apology, Donny. For how I ended things. I know I hurt you but I… I was scared. So I ran. And I’ve regretted it ever since then.”
“Yet you never reached out to your parents?” he asked skeptically. “Not in all these years?”
I shook my head. “By the time I realized what a big mistake I’d made, I figured everyone was mad at me. So I resigned myself to a quiet life in Canada.”
I subtly dug my fingernails into my thighs to help me fake tears. “Then the bounty hunters found me, and I realized I needed myDa. I needed protection.”
I sent a watery smile in my parents’ direction. “Thankfully they were so happy that we were reunited, they agreed to forgive me. I’m ready to take my rightful place in the O’Brian family again. And to be honest, it’s kind of a relief to be with people who know me and care about me.”
Donny studied me for several long seconds. “I married another after you left.”
“I heard.”
“Did you also hear that my poor wife died last year?”
“How awful for you,” I said with my best attempt at sincerity.
“Indeed.” Donny turned to my parents. “Thank you for bringing this information to me, Colm. I’ll have my underboss contact you to resume our trade relationship, then we’ll come up with a plan to punish the Rossis. I don’t appreciate duplicity.”
“Nor do I,” my father said.
“You can leave us now. Moira and I have a lot of catching up to do. We’ll be in touch.”
Donny stood up to shakeDa’shand, then bellowed for Maria to escort my parents out. They hurried out of the room without so much as looking at me, which was no surprise. They’d gotten what they came for, so their interest in me was over.
Donny’s attention returned to me. “I’ve been very angry with you for a long time, Moira, but I was always fond of you. Maybe if you’re a good girl, I’ll consider taking you back. But you’ll need to prove your loyalty to earn my trust again.”
Marilee
“Can you please sit down?” My coworker Angie sent me an exasperated look. “You’re driving me crazy with all that pacing.”
“Yeah? How calm would you be if that was Suzie in there alone with some mafia asshole?” I demanded.
